2018’s Best- & Worst-Run Cities in America

Jul 9, 2018 | Adam McCann, Financial Writer

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Running a city is a tall order. The larger the city, the more complex it becomes to manage. In addition to representing the residents, local leaders must balance the public’s diverse interests with the city’s limited resources. That often means not everyone’s needs can or will be met. Leaders must carefully consider which services are most essential, which agencies’ budgets to cut or boost and whether and how much to raise taxes, among other decisions.

But how do we measure the effectiveness of local leadership? One way is by determining a city’s operating efficiency. In other words, we can learn how well city officials manage and spend public funds by comparing the quality of services residents receive against the city’s total budget.

Using that approach, WalletHub compared the operating efficiency of 150 of the largest U.S. cities to reveal which among them are managed best. We constructed a “Quality of Services” score made up of 35 metrics grouped into six service categories, which we then measured against the city’s per-capita budget. Read on for our findings, expert insight and a full description of our methodology.

Ask the Experts

A well-run city isn’t just the product of efficient budgeting or lots of resources. It is the fruit of countless other decisions, too. For more insight into why some cities perform better than others, we turned to a panel of local-government, economic and diversity experts. Click on the panelists’ profiles to read their bios and thoughts on the following key questions:

In your opinion, what are the most important issues facing U.S. cities today?

Why are some cities better run than others?

What can citizens do to increase the transparency and accountability of local government?

Are some forms of city government — a strong mayor versus a strong city council, for instance — more effective than others?

In evaluating how well a city is run, what are the top five indicators?

How can local policymakers reduce racial tensions in the wake of recent movements?

Methodology

In order to determine the best- and worst-run cities in America, WalletHub compared 150 of the most populated cities across six key categories: 1) Financial Stability, 2) Education, 3) Health, 4) Safety, 5) Economy and 6) Infrastructure & Pollution.

We evaluated those dimensions using 35 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest quality of service.

Next, we calculated an overall “Quality of City Services” score for each city based on its weighted average across all the metrics. Finally, for each city, we divided the Quality of City Services score by the “Total Budget per Capita” (dollar amount) in order to construct a “Score per Dollar Spent” index — displayed as “Overall Rank” in the Main Findings table above — which we then used to rank-order the cities in our sample.

The metrics used do not create a disadvantage for DC, despite its unusual status as a city/state, with the exception of the Long-Term Debt Outstanding per Capita metric. However, even with that metric removed, DC still ranks last. Thus, the District was included in this report.

Financial Stability – Total Points: 16.67

Moody’s City Credit Rating: Triple Weight (~12.50 Points)

Long-Term Debt Outstanding per Capita: Full Weight (~4.17 Points)

Education – Total Points: 16.67

K–12 School-System Quality: Full Weight (~8.33 Points)Note: This metric measures the share of public schools rated by GreatSchools.org with above average score.

High School Graduation Rate: Full Weight (~8.33 Points)

Health – Total Points: 16.67

Infant Mortality Rate: Quadruple Weight (~6.67 Points)

Average Life Expectancy (in Years): Quadruple Weight (~6.67 Points)

Hospital Beds per Capita: Full Weight (~1.67 Points)

Quality of Public Hospital System: Full Weight (~1.67 Points)Note: This metric is based on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ ranking of public hospital systems.

Bike Score: Full Weight (~0.83 Points)Note: “Bike Score” measures whether an area is good for biking. The Bike Score is calculated by measuring bike infrastructure (lanes, trails, etc.), hills, destinations and road connectivity, and the number of bike commuters.

Transit Score: Full Weight (~0.83 Points)Note: “Transit Score” is a patented measure of how well a location is served by public transit.

Sources:Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Council for Community and Economic Research, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Moody's Investors Service, GreatSchools.org, County Health Rankings, Health Resources and Services Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Chmura Economics & Analytics, Zillow, The Equality of Opportunity Project, The Road Information Program, Center for Neighborhood Technology, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Walk Score, The Trust for Public Land, INRIX, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and WalletHub research.

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Community Discussion

What would Arlington TX be ranked if we left out their horrible pollution/infrastructure? Environmental Working Group has them in 4th place as WORST drinking Water Quality....it would make sense cause we embrace fracking in urban areas. Fracking towns should have been given some weight... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/14/fracking-hell-live-next-shale-gas-well-texas-us?CMP=share_btn_fb

Read this https://bit.ly/2wreFue to see how this is actually an opportunity to use retroactivity on term limits to fight HB40 and lead in using our Home Rule law to be more protective of the Arlington TX citizens.

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@delaney_swann

July 16, 2018

I don't understand why Chattanooga ranks below Flint Michigan in your first chart at 144 but above at 118 in the second chart?